Doctors struggle for lives of those injured in Moscow terrorist acts

According to the latest estimates, more than 70 people who were wounded in the Moscow terrorist attacks are currently in hospitals, reports news agency Interfax, quoting emergency services sources.

Among those in Moscow hospitals, five people are reported in critical condition and 27 are in grave conditions. The condition of another 34 is moderately grave and six people are in satisfactory condition, reports news agency Itar Tass.

Seven passengers severely injured have been taken to the Sklifosovskogo Emergency Hospital.

Doctors have been operating on the critically injured since 9 in the morning on Monday.

Most of the victims are young adults suffering from massive internal injuries.

“More people who left the scenes of the blasts on Monday have come forward for medical treatment,” shared Andrey Seltsovsky, the Head of the Moscow Health Department.

“They came to different hospitals with minor and light injuries – they are being treated. Most of them have then been hospitalized.”

Seltsovsky assured that doctors have everything they need for medical support, and that the surgical operations have been a success. Now it is time for the second period of helping and healing the patients.

“Many relatives are turning to us, and psychologists are working in different city hospitals to help them,” Andrey Seltsovsky said. “We are also carrying out identification work,” he said, and promised that “Our specialists say the procedure of identification will end later today.”

“I was on the way to work when my 18-year-old son called. He said there was a big explosion. His neck and leg are hurt. He was in that same carriage where the explosion happened. I haven’t seen him yet. He is in pain,” Sergey Medvedev, the father of one of the patients, told RT.

“I was going to work and was at Park Kultury metro station when it happened. I panicked and ran away. Now I am going to the hospital where the people I was in the metro station with have been taken to”, says Sergey Shabanov, a witness of the explosion at the Park Kultury metro station.

Fyodor Yurinov, son of a survivor who has since undergone an operation due to his injuries, says he found out about the blast from TV news and only then realized his father was there.

“He told me that he was going to work as usual but because the first terrorist had already struck at Lubyanka station the train was moving very slowly, constantly stopping in the tunnel,” says Fyodor. “It turns out he was inside the same car the terrorist had struck. So just as they reached Park Kultury and the doors opened and he heard the explosion, which he described as a loud bang.”

Alla Yakusheva, injured during the Park Kultury blast, says she boarded the train one station away from Park Kultury.

“There were announcements telling people to stay calm, which said there were problems on the line. So I decided to change lines, I got off, and heard a loud explosion behind my back. I felt blast of air, I lost my bag, and realised I couldn’t walk. I was wounded, there was a lot of blood everywhere, smoke, shrapnel, I couldn't understand what was going on, I was stunned”, Yakusheva recalled.

Thanks to a well-coordinated effort by ministers and emergency services, the most seriously injured in the terrorist acts were quickly taken to hospitals, some of them flown in by helicopter.

Private individuals on the street also helped to drive the injured to hospitals.

Additionally, a center offering psychological support to the families and friends of the injured has been set up at the hospital.

At the entrance to the hospital there is a notice board with a list of the injured. The list can also be found on the emergency services’ official website. There is also a hotline set up.

Approved by Emergency Services, cell communication operators have begun texting their subscribers about the hotline telephone numbers and traffic situation in Moscow.

Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu also urged cell operators to use the short message service to allow people to urgently inform their relatives about their condition.

Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Putin has ordered the allocation of money to the families of those killed and injured. Those whose relatives were killed will get around $30, 000 while those whose relatives were injured will receive from $6,000 to $13,000 from the state.

March 30 will be an official day of mourning for the victims of the Metro terrorist acts.

Already people are bringing flowers to the two metro stations hit by the blasts. They placed the flowers on special tables installed in the middle of the stations or on the floor.